Auditory Peripheral Processing of Degraded Speech
Abstract
This is a final report for a stand-alone grant supporting the first 9 months of a 4-year research program entitled "Auditory peripheral processing of degraded speech". The underlying thesis is that the auditory periphery contributes to the robust performance of humans in speech reception in noise through a concerted contribution of the efferent feedback system (which stabilizes the operating point of the cochlea) and post-auditory-nerve functions (such as acoustic-edge detectors). The 4-year program includes psychophysical experiments aimed at documenting the role of these two peripheral components; developing a computational model; and using the emerging model as a front end to an automatic speech recognition system. The proposed timetable allocates the first 12 months for psychophysical experiments. This report describes efforts to assess the role of the MOC efferent system in speech reception in the presence of sustained background noise, by using a test of initial consonant reception (the Diagnostic Rhyme Test) performed by subjects with normal hearing. Activation of selected parts of the efferent system was attempted by presenting speech and noise in various configurations (gated/continuous, monaural/binaural). Initial results support the hypothesis of a significant efferent contribution to initial phone discrimination in noise.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA420098
Entities
People
- Oded Ghitza